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On April 2, the Chinese embassy and consulate in the UK assisted in organizing the return of 181 Chinese citizens, including students, to China.There are 220,000 Chinese students in the UK, including 15,000 school pupils, Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said in an earlier interview.

Staying is an optionThe impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on overseas Chinese students has been huge, putting them in a dilemma over whether to stay abroad or return home.Colin Chen, executive director of InterGreat Education Group, told the Global Times that since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK, his company has been helping the Chinese embassy in the UK to collect information on school pupils who are facing difficulties. Chinese pupils in the UK are in schools scattered all over the country, with some staying in boarding schools and some living with guardian families, which made gathering the information somewhat difficult, according to Chen.

Chen said they are trying to reach out to individual Chinese students through the Boarding Schools' Association (BSA). As boarding schools are encouraging students to return home, there are only a small number of overseas students staying in schools with limited numbers of staff. This is also likely to be a long-term arrangement.Another problem facing overseas students is that some of the guardian families they live with have members over 70 years old who have been told to self-isolate for four months even if they don't have coronavirus symptoms, in a "wartime-style" lockdown by the government. As a result, it is difficult for elderly guardians to take care of young pupils.

BSA Chief Executive Robin Fletcher told HuffPost UK in mid-March that many overseas boarders studying in the UK had already left their schools because of the threat of COVID-19. "The chief priority for all boarding schools is the safety and welfare of boarders," he said.

There is a shortage of face masks on the market and sending medical supplies from China to the UK takes a long time.So far, China has sent 12 teams of medical experts to 10 countries, which are Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Venezuela, the Philippines and Myanmar, to help them combat COVID-19, Zhao told a press briefing when answering a relevant question.

The Chinese experts shared their experience with local medical workers, helped them improve their ability in epidemic prevention, containment, diagnosis and treatment, boosted their confidence in jointly overcoming the pandemic, and their efforts have been well recognized by the governments and people of these countries, he added."China is making such efforts to reciprocate the goodwill we received earlier during the pandemic, to act on international humanitarianism and to implement the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind," Zhao said.

China will never stand aloof and shun away from our friends when they are in trouble, and we will never pick and choose nor attach any string when we offer a helping hand, the spokesperson said, adding that by working with the rest of the international community in this global war against the epidemic, China's goal is nothing but making concerted efforts and giving mutual assistance to tide over difficulties together.Noting that no country is immune to this global public health crisis, Zhao said that the international community needs solidarity and cooperation more than ever.